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6. Toronto (10): Raptors set a franchise record for margin of victory in a road game with a 106-69 win against division rival New Jersey.

7. New Orleans (17): Hornets are healthy and clicking with Peja Stojakovic going 8-for-17 from three-point range through the first two games, both wins.

8. Indiana (25): New coach Jim O'Brien is letting them run, and they are off to a 3-0 start, averaging 109 points a game.

9. Dallas (3): In his first NBA start, in place of Devin Harris (bruised thigh), point guard Jose Berea had 25 points on 9-for-11 shooting in Saturday's win against Sacramento.

10. Utah (9): Jazz eliminated Golden State from the playoffs last season and has already beaten the Warriors twice this season -- and are averaging 125 points vs. Golden State in those two games.

Court Coverage: Hawks start off season flying high

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By David DuPree, USA TODAY
Team of the week
Atlanta Hawks — After ending the preseason with a league-best 7-1 record, the Hawks showed that success might carry over to the regular season. With a sellout crowd greeting them — only the 39th time they have sold out Phillips Arena since they moved into it in 1999 — the Hawks defeated the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, 101-94. It also marked the first time they opened the season with a win since the 1998-99 campaign which is, coincidently, the last time they made the playoffs.

"A lot of teams didn't take the preseason seriously, but we did," said guard Joe Johnson, who had 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists. "We won as a team then, and we won (Friday) as a team against one of the best teams in the league."

Stepping up

Tracy McGrady, Houston: Averaged 32.3 points a game in leading the Rockets (3-0) to wins against the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz on the road and the Portland Trail Blazers at home.

Danny Granger, Indiana: Scored at least 20 points in each of his first three games, averaging 22.7 points and 8.7 rebounds as Pacers roared to a 3-0 start.

Thrills, spills and chills

Sonics serve notice: Seattle SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett on Friday filed paperwork to relocate the team to Oklahoma City, possibly as early as next season. The Sonics, stymied in an attempt to get public financing for a new arena, are embroiled in a federal court case to try to get out of its occupancy agreement at Key Arena which doesn't expire until September 2010. An NBA spokesman confirmed that the matter has been referred to the NBA owners' relocation committee. "Today we notified Commissioner (David) Stern that we intend to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City if we succeed in the pending litigation with the city, or are able to negotiate an early lease termination, or at the end of the lease term," Bennett said in a statement. He also owns the Seattle Storm of the WNBA, but said a decision hasn't been made regarding that team's future location.

Kidd's play: Jason Kidd of the New Jersey Nets recorded the first triple-double of the season Saturday with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in a 93-88 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. Kidd now has 88 career triple-doubles, third most in NBA history behind Oscar Robertson's 181 and Magic Johnson's 138.

Texas showdown: The Houston Rockets, winners of their first three games, all against out of state rivals, face the Mavericks tonight at Dallas, and then host the San Antonio Spurs at home Tuesday.

Bucks end streak: The Milwaukee Bucks ended a 15-game losing streak to Central Division opponents dating back to last season with a 78-72 win against Chicago on Saturday, handing the winless Bulls their third consecutive loss in the first week of the season.

Wade watch: Miami's Dwyane Wade has been cleared by doctors to resume full workouts and to begin playing with the Heat as soon as he feels ready. Wade, however, isn't sure when that will be. He has spent the last six months recovering from shoulder and knee surgeries.

One-liner

Boston's Kevin Garnett, in his first game as a Celtic, became the first Boston player to have a 20-20 game since Sidney Wicks had 21 points and 22 rebounds in 1976 against Indiana. Garnett's line Friday in the 103-83 victory against the Washington Wizards:

Min FG M-A 3FG M-A FT M-A Reb Ast Stl Blk Pts.

38 9-17 0-0 4-4 20 5 3 3 22

This week's big game

Dallas at Golden State: The eighth-seeded Warriors stunned the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs last season after beating them in all three regular season meetings, as well. Dallas is looking to break that hex Thursday at Oakland (10:30 ET, TNT).

This week's best matchups

Carmelo Anthony vs. Paul Pierce: Two of the league's most prolific scorers square off Wednesday at Boston when the Celtics host Anthony and the Denver Nugget.

Amare Stoudemire vs. Dwight Howard: The battle will be in the middle as these two young centers and USA Basketball teammates, go at each other Saturday at Orlando.

Re: USA Today has the Pacers ranked 8th

Kind of lame that we're not ranked higher than detroit or new orleans but I have a feeling the winning record of our opponents was considered. Although if anyone would have told me we'd be ranked higher than the mavericks in a power ranking system (even this early) I would have had myself a good laugh, this team is really making a lot of people look dumb and eat their words. I just hope they keep it up, did we win 3 in a row at all last year? I think our trouble last year was we'd do somethin like take 3 steps forward and 2 steps back was our MO. I'm glad the pacers are getting rested up after the back to back but between now and wednesday is going to seem like forever.

Re: USA Today has the Pacers ranked 8th

Based on your definition of power rankings, 8 is not too high.

I think Marc Stein does them the best - where it's a combination of current "power," past "power" and expected "power." Our rank there would be in the teens. If USA decides to go by just current "power" then 8 isn't that off. (Makes us the worst of the unbeatens).

Re: USA Today has the Pacers ranked 8th

That's pretty much my point and pacers are averaging a lot more points.

Detroit has been demonstrably better than us for a couple of seasons. We have no right to be ranked higher than the Pistons unless we actually beat them, just like the Pats shouldn't have ever been ranked above the Colts until yesterday.

Re: USA Today has the Pacers ranked 8th

That's pretty much my point and pacers are averaging a lot more points.

3-0 vs teams that are 0-8

Big fish, little pond

IMO ANY TEAM, Hawks, Bobcats, Celtics included, should earn a top 10 spot by beating other top 10 teams at home, top 20 teams on the road. The Pacers haven't failed to do this yet, but they also haven't done it either. Is it so wrong to say "hold on" prior to games vs at least the Clips, let alone Denver or Boston?

What if Boston wins 110-80 following the Pacers losing to the Nuggets 105-92, that top 10 is going to look pretty stupid. And if the Pacers win those games instead it would be easy enough to move them up from 17-18 to top 10 and with plenty of justification behind it.